Rocket launch on Thursday

We left about 9am hoping that the commuters would be safely tucked away in their cube farms but no such luck. Traffic, traffic, traffic. And then in Woodland Hills, a car in the slow land dropped its bumper which flew across the pavement so I could drive over it three lanes away. Yikes. It's at times like that that you commit to the impact and hope that the new tires were worth all that money and that the Subaru engineers never said, "screw it; that's good enough." Shook us up but the car took the hit well. We stopped in Ventura to grab some burgers for the launch and I looked over the car. Just some pale blue paint on the right tires. I'm guessing the undercarriage is okay because nothing has fallen off 300 miles later.

We got to Lompoc at 12:30pm and there was a stopped line of cars while we were still 2 or 3 miles from the beach. We tried a side street but some nice airmen shooed us off. Back at the main street, we found that everyone was just pulling off to the side. Good idea! I got out the camp chairs, the Starbucks and the In-n-Out burgers and we were set. A fellow in the car next to us told us we weren't playing fair because we were upwind of them and they could smell the burgers. *eg* Then at 1:10pm, the crowd went off. We were looking off to the right but then realized the rocket was right in front of us. It was strangely quiet until it was significantly higher up and then we got that thundering noise we were expecting but it wasn't as loud as we thought. The news releases stated they were worried it might break windows in Lompoc but it was not loud at all. Damn mufflers!!! Another unexpected thing was that the rocket went straight into the sun from our perspective. It made watching it difficult.

When I looked back, the car in front of us had already left! We waited about 30 minutes then joined the line of cars. Took the scenic way back and got caught in even worse traffic back in LA. I'm glad we went. Seeing, hearing and feeling a rocket take off has been one of the things I've always wanted to do. I wanted to see a shuttle launch but that's not going to happen.

I phoned a friend who lives up there while we were waiting. Her mom answered and said her daughter was out. Then she said she'd lived up there for years and that was a wimpy rocket! Apparently the Titans were the impressive ones.

For photos and such, go here:

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/delta/d352/launch/
http://www.ulalaunch.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-5v9zcbAZg

Cat update

I *think* the Feliway is helping as the cats have gotten more affectionate but it hasn't helped our problem yet.
We've been leaving the door open but Coco just hides under the bed and Abby lurks about for hours until I shoo her out so Coco can have a bathroom break.

Last night the door was open but I was in the living room, fairly exhausted from 4 days of very little sleep and driving to Lompoc and back. I was drifting off when suddenly Buddy leaped off the cat tree. I put the mute on the tv and could hear yowling in the bedroom. By the time I got there, Buddy had his head and shoulders under the bed and was monitoring the situation. I got a broom and a flashlight and had a look. Abby was under the head of the bed and Coco was at the foot of the bed. I shooed Abby out of the room completely with the broom. She bounced out of their like a superball. Buddy looked upset. All Buddy wants is for everyone to get along. We shut Coco up so she could calm down and back we went into the living room. I really thought Abby would fear me after that, but within ten minutes she walked up to me and leaned on my leg. "We're good, aren't we?" Sure! Buddy felt better after that.

I *think* Abby might have just wanted to be with Coco and since she won't come out from under the bed, she went under it. Coco saw it as aggression. This is just gonna take a while. :(

I have mentioned lately how sweet and loving and playful Coco is? She is a darling cat. They are all wonderful cats but cats and their politics!